# Pinole City Council Compare records and positions simply between Matthew "Matt" Avery, Truc "Christy" Lam-Julian, and 3 more for Pinole City Council at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would hold one of Pinole's five at-large City Council seats. An appointed City Manager runs daily operations. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. Pinole is a Contra Costa County city. The term is four years. The top three vote-getters win. There is no ranked-choice voting or June primary. The Mayor rotates annually among Council members, rather than being elected directly. The City Clerk is an appointed officer, not an elected one. Pinole does have a separately elected City Treasurer. That seat is not up this cycle. - Jurisdiction: City of Pinole - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Seats: 3 - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/pinole-council - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: September 7, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 86 out of 100 (Strong), across 10 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Matthew "Matt" Avery** — Retired Police Commander - **Truc "Christy" Lam-Julian** — Mother/Nonprofit CEO - **Libby Duarte** — Corporate Services Manager - **Gabriel Sandoval** — Legislative Staff - **Tina Brown** — Human Service Professional A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Five newcomers are running for Pinole's three open at-large City Council seats after all three termed-out incumbents -- Mayor Anthony Tave, Norma Martinez-Rubin, and Cameron Sasai -- declined to file for reelection: Truc "Christy" Lam-Julian, Libby Duarte, Gabriel Sandoval, Matthew "Matt" Avery, and Tina Brown. This person would hold one of Pinole's five at-large City Council seats on a council-manager government with an appointed City Manager. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Contra Costa County city of about 19,000 residents. The term is four years. The Mayor is rotated annually among Council members rather than elected directly by voters; the City Clerk, Heather Bell-Spears, is an appointed officer, not a separately elected office. Pinole does have a separately elected City Treasurer, but that seat is not up this cycle. Three seats are open this cycle, decided by whichever three candidates get the most votes -- no ranked-choice voting or June primary is documented for Pinole. All three seats came open the same way: none of the three sitting incumbents whose terms expire this cycle filed for reelection, which under the county's own procedure reopened a non-incumbent filing window through Aug. 12, 2026. Five candidates qualified in that window; no incumbent is on this ballot. ## Truc "Christy" Lam-Julian Her filed ballot designation is "Mother/Nonprofit CEO." She's a 20-plus-year member of SEIU Local 2015 in customer service, and founded and now leads the Lam-Julian Foundation nonprofit. Her own campaign site describes her as a first-generation Vietnamese-Chinese American, the daughter of refugees, and a Pinole homeowner; she's a former PTA president and Rotarian, and currently sits on Contra Costa County's Developmental Disabilities Council and Women and Girls Commission. Her platform groups under three headings -- accountability (internal audits, eliminating wasteful spending, citizen oversight committees), safety (first-responder funding, road and fire-safety repairs), and affordability (a small-business alliance, rent-control protections, continuing the city's Project Labor Agreement) -- and she says her campaign is "100% funded by people power" with no corporate or PAC money. **Strengths:** The most extensive documented civic and community record of the five candidates -- county commission service, PTA and Rotary leadership, and a nonprofit she founded and runs. **Trade-offs:** Her biography, platform, and "no corporate or PAC money" claim all come from her own campaign site; this dataset found no independent reporting or filed campaign-finance record to check them against. **Keep in mind:** See this contest's financial note below -- no campaign-disclosure filing was found for any of the five candidates, including her. ## Libby Duarte Duarte's filed ballot designation is "Corporate Services Manager." They maintain a campaign presence on Facebook ("Libby Duarte for Pinole City Council") and Instagram (@libby4pinolecouncil) per the city's own candidate roster, but their campaign website was still under construction at retrieval, displaying only a placeholder message. **Strengths:** Qualified early in the filing window (July 23, 2026), among the first three of the five candidates to file. **Trade-offs:** This dataset found no biography, platform, or independent coverage beyond Duarte's filed occupational designation -- their campaign website had no content at retrieval. **Keep in mind:** See this contest's financial note below -- no campaign-disclosure filing was found for any of the five candidates, including Duarte. ## Gabriel Sandoval Sandoval's filed ballot designation is "Legislative Staff." Their own campaign site, run under the slogan "Leadership That Listens. Progress That Matters," lays out a three-part platform: public safety (funding tools for first responders), infrastructure and quality of life (roads, parks, and general infrastructure investment), and economic development (revitalizing local businesses to grow city revenue). Their site lists an FPPC identification number (1488433) for their campaign committee. **Strengths:** A stated "Legislative Staff" occupation suggesting direct government-process experience, plus a registered FPPC committee number. **Trade-offs:** Sandoval's site doesn't name their employer or what body they staff, and its platform is only general. Its "Voices of Support" section is unfilled placeholder text, not real endorsements. **Keep in mind:** See this contest's financial note below -- no filed committee activity was found beyond the bare FPPC ID on their own site. ## Matthew "Matt" Avery Avery's filed ballot designation is "Retired Police Commander." Avery qualified for the ballot Aug. 4, 2026, the last of the five candidates to file before the county's own qualified-candidate deadline. Their campaign website and Facebook page both loaded with no biographical or platform content at retrieval. **Strengths:** A law-enforcement command background, per Avery's own filed designation, distinct from the other four candidates' occupations. **Trade-offs:** No independent confirmation of which agency they commanded for or when they retired, and no platform statement -- their site and Facebook page were both blank at retrieval. **Keep in mind:** See this contest's financial note below -- no campaign-disclosure filing was found for any of the five candidates, including Avery. ## Tina Brown Brown's filed ballot designation is "Human Service Professional." They qualified for the ballot Aug. 6, 2026. Their campaign website was live at retrieval but consisted only of a bare landing page naming them and the office they're seeking, with no biography or platform content. **Strengths:** A human-services occupational background, per Brown's own filed designation. **Trade-offs:** This dataset found no biography, platform, or independent coverage beyond their filed occupational designation -- their campaign website carried no substantive content at retrieval. **Keep in mind:** See this contest's financial note below -- no campaign-disclosure filing was found for any of the five candidates, including Brown. ## Review notes - Truc "Christy" Lam-Julian for Pinole City Council -- her own campaign site: a 20+-year SEIU 2015 member in customer service, founder/CEO of the Lam-Julian Foundation nonprofit, a first-generation Vietnamese-Chinese American and daughter of refugees, prior PTA president and Rotarian, current member of the county's Developmental Disabilities Council and Women and Girls Commission; platform groups under accountability, safety, and affordability, and states her campaign is "100% funded by people power" with "0% from corporations and PACs." and Gabriel Sandoval for Pinole City Council -- his own campaign site: names an FPPC ID (1488433) and lays out a three-part platform (public safety, infrastructure/quality-of-life, and economic development/small-business revitalization) under the slogan "Leadership That Listens. Progress That Matters"; its "Voices of Support" section displays only unfilled placeholder text, not actual endorsements. may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [Contra Costa County Elections Division -- "Positions Up for Election, November 3, 2026, General Election": lists Pinole's only office this cycle as "3 Councilmembers" under Cities Offices -- no City Clerk or City Treasurer line item for Pinole appears anywhere in the document](https://www.contracostavote.gov/wp-content/uploads/26Nov03_PositionsUpForElection.pdf) 2. [Contra Costa County Elections Division -- "Contest/Candidate Proof List" (8-27-26_candidatelist_detail_final.pdf), the county's post-certification ON-BALLOT export: shows Pinole's "PinoleCouncil" contest as Vote For 3, with 5 filed and 5 qualified candidates, ON BALLOT status, and the county's own "* Denotes Office Goes Into Extension" marker, naming all three sitting incumbents (Norma Diana Martinez-Rubin, Anthony Lee Tave, Cameron Noah Sasai) as "Elected" to the outgoing term but not among the five qualified candidates; each qualified candidate's filed ballot designation and qualification date is listed individually](https://www.contracostavote.gov/wp-content/uploads/8-27-26_candidatelist_detail_final.pdf) 3. [Contra Costa County Elections Division -- "Candidate List" (8-14-26_candidatelist_summary_final.pdf), the county's complete qualified-candidate roster: independently confirms the same five-candidate field for Pinole's 3-seat Council contest (Truc "Christy" Lam-Julian, Libby Duarte, Gabriel Sandoval, Matthew "Matt" Avery, Tina Brown) with matching qualification timestamps](https://www.contracostavote.gov/wp-content/uploads/8-14-26_candidatelist_summary_final.pdf) 4. [City of Pinole -- City Clerk's "Elections Information" page: confirms both City Council (five at-large, 4-year terms) and City Treasurer as elected offices, states the nomination period ran July 13-Aug. 7, 2026 and "due to incumbents not filing, the nomination period is extended to August 12, 2026," and links the city's own candidate roster and 2026 Candidate Guide](https://www.pinole.gov/city-government/city-council/elections-information/) 5. [City of Pinole -- "City Council Members" page: names Mayor Anthony Tave, Norma Martinez-Rubin, and Cameron Sasai each with a term expiring December 2026, and Mayor Pro Tempore Devin T. Murphy and Councilmember Maureen Toms each with a term expiring December 2028 -- confirming the first three are this cycle's three open seats -- and states the Council operates under a council-manager government with the mayoral role rotating annually among members](https://www.pinole.gov/city-government/city-council/city-council-members/) 6. [City of Pinole -- City Clerk page: states the City Clerk, Heather Bell-Spears, is "an appointed officer of the City," not a separately elected office](https://www.pinole.gov/city-government/city-clerk/) 7. [City of Pinole -- official "Candidate Roster" (as of 8/18/2026) for the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Consolidated Election, Pinole City Council (3 seats): independently confirms the same five-candidate field with each candidate's self-provided contact information -- Gabriel Sandoval (gabeforpinole.com), Truc "Christy" Lam-Julian (christylamjulian.com), Libby Duarte (Facebook "Libby Duarte for Pinole City Council," Instagram @libby4pinolecouncil), Mat(t) Avery (mat4citycouncil.com, Facebook/Instagram @matt4citycouncil), and Tina Brown (tina4pinole.com) -- plus each candidate's nomination-paper pull/file dates](https://www.pinole.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/8.18.26-2026-Candidate-Roster.pdf) 8. [Wikipedia's Pinole, California article -- confirms a council-manager government, population 19,022 (2020 census), and incorporation June 25, 1903; cited only for these structural/demographic facts -- its listed council roster is stale relative to the city's own current page and is not relied on for incumbency](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinole,_California) 9. [Gabriel Sandoval for Pinole City Council -- his own campaign site: names an FPPC ID (1488433) and lays out a three-part platform (public safety, infrastructure/quality-of-life, and economic development/small-business revitalization) under the slogan "Leadership That Listens. Progress That Matters"](https://www.gabeforpinole.com) 10. [Truc "Christy" Lam-Julian for Pinole City Council -- her own campaign site: a 20+-year SEIU 2015 member in customer service, founder/CEO of the Lam-Julian Foundation nonprofit, a first-generation Vietnamese-Chinese American and daughter of refugees, prior PTA president and Rotarian, current member of the county's Developmental Disabilities Council and Women and Girls Commission; platform groups under accountability, safety, and affordability, and states her campaign is "100% funded by people power" with "0% from corporations and PACs"](https://www.christylamjulian.com) ## The rest of the ballot Pinole City Council is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Pinole City Council — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/pinole-council (sources last retrieved September 7, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.